Hi,

Does anyone know about choc's having pigment problems re. sunlight. How do you know if yours has a problem and should you always keep them out the sun?

Also is it a myth about them having difficult temperment e.g being more excitable and harder to handle than the black or gold?

Any comments would be great

Thanks

Chocs do not fare well in the sun so best to keep them out im not sure why I was told bleaches their coat.
I dont believe their temperament is any different to black and yellows but then again I prefer blacks anyway always have.

Ours is 4 months old and I've noticed he's been scratching himself a lot - I will try and keep him out of the sun more, I thought it might be to do with oil content in his skin and maybe having blocked pores. Someone told me this might be it - we've checked him for fleas and it doesn't seem to be that.

Anyone got any other ideas?

hi, bith my choc labs go lighter in the sun, it's impossible to keep them in all the time though, especially when the others are playing out.As for whether they are more barmy i would say yes, but my two blacks are pretty daft too so it might be me:)My choc dog is a rescue dog, and he has always been very difficult to train, amber is only 19 weeks and she is already showing signs of being headstrong, whereas the other two black labs are silly but obedient.Having said that i love them all to bits, and the choccy ones are very loving:)

Hi, I have a 10 month chocolate lab, her name is Emmy. I think she has gone a little lighter in colour in these summer months so maybe the sun does bleach them.

As for Chocolate temperaments being more difficult to train and more exciteable... I have looked into this many times myself as it keeps popping up, even my vet and trainer said it, but I believe it is a myth. My girl certainly gets excited at times and is full of energy. Training classes were a nightmare with Emmy, she wanted to play with the other dogs whenever we were sat still listening to our trainer. But when it came to learning a new command she was up, alert and ready to please... much faster than any of the other dogs in the class. She is a very loving and friendly dog with a wonderful personality, I would not have her any other way. I admit she can be a handful at times, but she is still a pup and if she is doing something I consider "naughty" then it is down to ME as her trainer to correct that behaviour. It's not been easy raising her, but my parents have a black lab and she is nowhere near so much as a handful as he was as a puppy. Labs are wonderful dogs if you have the time and energy to train them.

Sorry if I've gone on a bit, but I hate to see Chocolates getting a bad name for no reason. If there is actual genetic evidence out there that proves chocs have a 'naughty' gene and yellows and blacks do not, then maybe I'll change my mind!!!! Until then I'll keep on believing that it comes down to the lines that they have been bred from and how well they are trained by their owner.

Hi, I have an 18mnth black lab and a 4mnth choc. They are like chalk and cheese and the 'baby' is already the boss. I think all dogs are different aren't they, like people. You just have to look at a litter to see the personality differences and they are all related ! Labs are gorgeous though arent they?

hi i had a choc lab for 9 years, sadley lost her last september, she was the most adorable dog ever, she had no problems in the sun what so ever, she was very easy to train, did every thing she was told, but she did like to bark, i think they are all different what ever colour they are,

A vit/min additive that contains iodine/seaweed is supposed to help retain pigment. Pigment can also be affected if you use plastic feeding/water bowls. My choc is in the house mostly and though she can go in and out as she chooses she mostly stays indoors in this heat and she just go out when its walkies. My old choc lab, long gone now, used to sneak out to sunbathe til I dragged her indoors - it never affected her colour though. My present choc who is still a "teenager" has a very calm and steady temperament.

Don't remember anyone worrying about the colour of brown Labs when they were called Liver, why is it causing concern now someone has decided they are not Liver or Brown but Chocolate?

Ahh but Jackie,

Were they as popular.

Sadly sometimes for the wrong reasons.

I am not expert on Labs but I know a few people who show labs and they keep the Chocs out the sun as much as possible in the summer as the lighter bits certainly draw your eye to them.

Pam

double

Thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming :).

Now that they are called Chocalates everybody thinks they will melt in the sun;).!!!!!!

I can understand there coat my go lighter in the sun. You see it in other animals. Also white and pink tips like noses and ear on any animals are prone to sunburn and possible cancer aren't they???????

I just get the feeling that Choc labs is frowned upon by black and gold breeders for being badly behaved and hard to train :(. I think temperment does come down to blood lines and owner behaviour nothing else. Obviously certain breeds are meant for different things which will alter their overall behaviour, however I don't thing there is any evidence or proof out there unless someone can show me the Chocs are harder work or any different than the Blacks or golds.

Thanks

>>>> I just get the feeling that Choc labs is frowned upon by black and gold breeders for being badly behaved and hard to train . I think temperment does come down to blood lines and owner behaviour nothing else. <<<

Sadly Hall I really do not agree that breeders frown upon them, I think what a lot of genuine breeders are seeing is people unethically breeding chocs due to the popularity without thought, experience or understanding of the breed and it's Standard. Just because they can sell them. Breeding Chocs needs a lot of thought, keeping the dark pigmination is one that must be worked at.

I may be wrong and hope an experinced lab person will correct me if I am wrong but it is getting harder and harder to get a good chocolate for showing sadly and breeders are super careful who they sell them to. ( not that other breed breeders don't but you know what I mean)

Good genuine breeders do not breed constantly for colour, mixing wrong dogs and colour together they breed for quality, temperment, health all before the colour.

Some purchasers are buying choc puppies without thought to their breeding over looking a very nice yellow or black because of it's popularity.. Which is really sad.

Just my thoughts.

Pamela

Chocolate labradors have suffered from being a less common colour. Whenever this happens in a breed, breeders out to make a fast buck will strive to produce any sort of pup as long as it's the "expensive" colour. Even now, chocolates seem to be about £100 more expensive than blacks or yellows (never golds ;) ). It's easy to produce poor-quality colouring, but to produce a good chocolate colour with the correct depth of pigmentation requires a working knowledge of genetics, which many breeders don't have, and aren't interested in acquiring!

Its much easier now to find a show quality chocolate than it was 20 years ago imo !! In every breed there will be the responsible and the irresponsible breeders. As labradors are among the most popular breeds - as are westies, its not surprising that some have jumped on the band wagon. I see just as many, if not more poor examples of black and yellow labs as I do chocolates when out and about - not at dog shows necessarily, but out at boot sales, beach on walks etc.

WL, Maybe I am wrong but I thought you were having a lot of trouble finding a chocolate lab , maybe I have this wrong though as I think I remember you looking for another type of terrier.

Regardless about that , you are naturally going to see lots of poor black and yellow labs because of the volume of them these poor ones maybe crosses or only a few % of those bred.. It is still the most popular family pet. Even with the popularity of the Chocolates at the moment you will see 100+ black or Yellow before you see a chocolate so probably not a fair statement.

I personally love them all, I just don't want to see the breed or the chocolates abused because of fashion. I would feel like this with any breed.

Anyway good luck with your new site and I hope you find good homes for your westies, I won't need to say this but I hope your girls fall into good loving homes no doubt you will find them.

BFN Pam

Pam, Yes you are wrong. The only trouble I was having was waiting until my circumstances were right . Its the same in any breed - if you want the best you have to bide your time.
Again I disagree, I see a high proportion of chocolates when out (about 1 in10) and about and some of them are lovely looking and some not show dogs.
My dogs will not "fall into the hands " of anyone - they have gone to carefully picked pre-approved homes where they will be shown and given the opportunity they deserve in the ring. Of course I will miss them, I remember them all being born/growing up but I am doing the best for them. Its not at all easy. What have my personal circumstances got to do with this (or any) thread anyway?

Well as usual we will just have to agree to disagree.

I was giving my opinion which I am intitled even if it is not shared by you. I was and am not looking to debate with you. I have had Labs in my family for years and years.

I don't think your personal circumstances had anything to do with it nor was I trying to make them. I know nothing about them nor am I in the slightest bit interested at all. I was being polite as a westie lover. I read on this site about you giving up westies and that you were buying a lab so not sure what you mean. You are the one who has your details on the board/internet. I was refering to your personal experience not circumstances.

Sorry for being polite.

Edited to add SORRY ADMIN that my comments about the good luck maybe should have been under you Choc lab new site thread.

Hi Hall.

Kelp and seeweed do help with the pigmentation but if the hair actually gets lightened in the sun regardless what breed I think it has to grown out. It should help the skin pigmentation though. I know with the westies a lot of people use it to encourage the heatlhy black noses..

BFN Pam

My choccie lab is a lovely dark mahogany brown colour and I am always getting stopped by people telling me what a lovely colour she is (but thats just me boasting)
She is not out a lot in the sun but I have to say I havent noticed any fading of her coat, but is probably best to keep them out of the sun becasue of the heat anyway.

Like Joules said, its up to you how boisterous you decide to let your dog be.
Dogs all have their own personalities, some will be more boisterous than others, but its up to you to contain it
Something at which I am doing terribly at :D
Darcy is spoilt rotten!!

Labs in general are loopy animals but very loving and worth all the effort

Good Luck

Rachael & Darcy

re temperament. My old choc lab still behaved like an irresponsible puppy clumsy, bouncy. leading anyone who would tolerate it around by their cuff or watchstrap and constantly on the go, until she started to slow down a bit in old age. I had her from 7 weeks but she took months and months to house train over night and chewed everything she could get her gnashers round until she was a good 12 months old - in fact my husband ( we weren't married then) at one point said " its the dog or me" - I gave him such a look he never said THAT again. LOL. Wheras the one I have now is calm and steady always - but I take no credit for it as I have only had her recently.

Thanks for all the comments. Hopefully over time Choc labs will be classed just like any other lab when it concerns their temperment.

I'll research into the kelp and seaweed solution. Hopefully it will help. I'm sure it can do no harm.

Once again Thanks:)

hall - just a PS - have you seen my post about chocolate Labradors on the General board?

Just to add to this thread re chocolates and shows. I was at WKC show recently and there were quite few chocolates there, in fact both best puppy's (dog and bitch) were chocolates , full brother and sister. They were both what I would call a good colour - fairly dark and even coloured. However in the adult classes some of the chocolates were very pale and one in particular was very patchy. However in a large class this latter chocolate was highly placed. Imo she was not the ideal colour but very very well made and was rightly rewarded. Watching nearly all the judging of both sexes it seemed the judge was putting up the shape of dog he liked and the shade of chocolate seemed to have nothing to do with his decisions, light or nearly black were all placed.

Comparison to the Miss World competition, the judges don't look to see if the hair is out of a bottle, it is the vtial statistics they have thier eye on definately not the intelligence !! :D :D

Lucy

i had a 10month choc lab girl she was the best dog, so well behaved , so obiedient by nature, we didnt train her atall she just seemed to know what she had to do! she was an absolute angel, loved everything and everybody. i also had a black lab there is no difference between temperment of colour, some say choc are a little bit clumbsy, its rubbish, some blacks and yellow are too! oh and LABS ARE THE BEST!

Just out of interest WL - why are you giving up Westies?

Claire.

Hi claire, because after 2 major stomach operations I cant stand and groom for hours any more and Westies need grooming every day really, at least every other day. I had several but now just a few so I can manage them better. Also because I dont want to show them any more, have more or less given up breeding too. I may re home one or two more, am still deciding.